Enterprise cloud platform offering virtual machines, databases, AI services and global infrastructure on a pay-as-you-go basis.
Pricing: 0 USD · Updated 2026-09-03
cloudYes. The Azure free account includes a $200 credit for the first 30 days, 12 months of select free services and more than 25 always-free services (checked 2026-09-03).
Azure is an enterprise cloud platform for virtual machines, databases, AI services and hybrid cloud workloads, billed pay-as-you-go beyond free amounts.
What happens when you type a web address? A simple walkthrough of DNS — domain hierarchy, resolvers, caching and TTL.
SSH explained: what Secure Shell is, how the protocol works end to end, and why it replaced telnet and rsh.
Docker explained: what containers are, how Docker Engine uses Linux namespaces and cgroups, how images, Dockerfiles, and Docker Compose fit together, and how Docker compares with virtual machines.
Kubernetes explained: what K8s is, how the control plane and worker nodes work, what pods, services, and deployments are, and how Kubernetes orchestrates containers at scale.
Configure DNS records for your domain: learn what A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, and TXT records do, when to use each, and how to verify your changes propagate correctly.
Set up SSH key authentication for GitHub and Linux servers: generate Ed25519 keys, add to ssh-agent, copy public key, and test connection — step-by-step with open-license sources.
An API gateway is a single front door for all client requests to your back-end services. This guide explains what an API gateway does, the problems it solves, common patterns, and how to choose one.
Monoliths and microservices are the two main ways to structure an application. A monolith ships as one deployable unit with a single codebase, while microservices split an app into small independent services that each own their data and scale alone. Compare the trade-offs and learn how to choose.
Load balancing is the process of distributing incoming traffic across multiple servers so that no single server is overloaded. A load balancer sits in front of a pool of servers and decides where to send each request, trading total capacity for reliability and speed. This guide explains how load balancers work, the difference between Layer 4 and Layer 7, the main routing algorithms, and how to choose one.
Cloud computing is a model for enabling ubiquitous, convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort. The NIST definition breaks it into five essential characteristics, three service models (SaaS, PaaS, IaaS) and four deployment models (public, private, community, hybrid). This guide explains each part and how to choose between them.
Serverless computing is a cloud service category where the customer provides application code or data and does not provision, deploy, or manage the underlying hardware or software resources. Functions as a Service (FaaS) is the core execution model: you upload a function and the platform runs it, scales it, and bills you only for actual execution time. This guide explains how serverless works, its benefits and trade-offs, the common anti-patterns, and when it is the right choice.
A message queue is a software component that lets services exchange data asynchronously. Learn how queues, topics, publishers and consumers work, and when they are worth the complexity.
Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF) lets an attacker abuse a server's own URL-fetching feature to reach internal systems and cloud metadata. This guide explains the attack and the defenses that stop it.
Event-driven architecture (EDA) is a software design pattern where components communicate by producing and detecting events. Learn how EDA works, its topologies, event sourcing, CQRS, and when to use it.
Microservice architecture splits an application into small independent services. Learn how decomposition, inter-service communication, data management, and the microservice premium work.
